This collection of ten articles written as research papers--each constituting a different chapter of the book--is authored by 27 scholars and edited by four of them. The collection is essentially “a projection of how work, working, workers, and the workplace will evolve in the years ahead from the perspective of different actors in society, influenced by technological, socioeconomic, political and demographic changes.” Though “the future of work” is not a new idea, it has gained particular relevance following the COVID-19 pandemic in influencing government policies as well as corporate human resources (HR) and business practices. Hybrid working, remote working, and co-working are just some of the illustrative terms that have already moved “from the future of work to the now of work.” The book looks at “the challenges and prospects for the future of work from two main perspectives: how work is changing and how to prepare for work in the future.” The presented critiques “challenge old assumptions” and show “emerging trends and possibilities for work in future.”

The first chapter, by the editors, provides an introduction by giving key trends, themes, and concepts. It includes a narration of key themes in future-of-work research over six decades, from 1959 to 2019, in a tabular form, including themes like extended reality (XR), co-working and gig working as well as mixed reality (MR), the metaverse, and hybrid working. (However, it should be noted that the most recent technological advances of generative artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT and its variants GPT-4 and so on, are not included.) Research done on the transformative aspects of digital technologies (until 2019) is mentioned here, including “how society operates and how [stakeholders] interact with each other,” leading to the newer perspectives and insights on the future of work covered in the remaining nine chapters.

Chapters 2 and 3 discuss “the impact of the increasing adoption of digital technologies in the workplace on employees’ well-being and professions.” While chapter 2 focuses on new ways of working and work practices enabled by virtualized organizational systems, chapter 3 addresses “an ongoing and growing debate on how professional roles are impacted and somewhat threatened by technology,” for example, accounting and legal professions. Chapter 4 draws attention to the gig economy and related “contingent forms of working that are enabled by digital platforms.” Chapter 5 deals with trust “the cornerstone of any work relationship and the foundation of any social interaction.” Chapter 6 looks at the role of leadership by presenting a review of academic literature on leadership and arriving at some underexplored areas for further research.

Chapter 7 addresses “the growing diversity of the workforce in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, culture, nationality, and language,” and the consequent opportunities and challenges for organizations implementing virtual and distributed teams. The message coming out is that organizational leaders have to rethink their definition of success--for themselves, for the diverse pool of workers, and, of course, for the organizations. The next two chapters are on the learning aspects of the future of work: “key skills required for the future of work and ... how these skills can be developed and co-created through formal yet flexible higher education” (chapter 8) and “the role of digital technologies in the context of human resource development, specifically their role in learning and development (L&D)” (chapter 9). Chapter 10 ends with ethical considerations, that is, “how the adoption of digital technologies generates a new set of ethical questions regarding their contribution to workers’ personal flourishing and to the good of society.”

Intentionally, given the book’s size and scope, “each chapter provides only a selected snapshot of a given topic.” However, keeping in mind the rapid rate of technological advances with the potential to impact the future of work, greater inter- and multidisciplinary research on policy issues is needed, including the application of future methodologies across various population demographics, geographic regions, sectors, and organizational types. As an example, much more research on generative language models in AI (like ChatGPT in the workplace) needs to be taken up before it gets outdated.

This book will provide a good reference for researchers and academics in business, HR management, organizational psychology, and industrial relations who are studying the future of work. Practitioners and policymakers can also refer to this book, with a filter for leaving out any research done more than a decade ago. It is highly recommended for PhD students interested in the subject, because it opens windows for future research.